Nevada Education Broadband Grant - Round III
These grant funds were distributed throughout the State to support broadband and WAN new construction projects in Nevada school districts, and included charter schools. The funds could be used for any broadband construction project that brings enhanced broadband to a school, such as the installation of fiber optic cable, microwave towers, wireless solutions, hybrid solutions, or other similar broadband/WAN projects, resulting in improved broadband connectivity and enhanced student learning. The project had to provide broadband speeds to schools that meet or exceed the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) standard of 1Mbps of Internet Access per student being served by the connection. Any public school district or charter school in Nevada was eligible.
Funding Information
Amplus Academy was awarded the 2020-2021 NV Education Broadband Grant (NVEBG) totaling $7,125, to enhance the broadband internet connections by establishing core network upgrades, ensuring a full gigabit backbone network which creates a more secure and reliable technology environment for educational practices and platforms. The upgrade will substantially improve connectivity for 1,637 students, increasing data rates from 6.75 Mbps per student to 37.5 Mbps per student, enhancing student learning and promoting efficient teaching practices. Expected connectivity increase is 315%-419% after completion of project.
Douglas County School District (DCSD) was awarded the 2020-2021 NV Education Broadband Grant (NVEBG) totaling $68,473, to upgrade and replace aging WAN switches and routers, impacting 6 of the 13 schools. This project aligns with their existing fiber network project to connect all school sites adding both resiliency and capacity for student growth. Once completed DCSD will increase from 1 Gbps to (24) 10 Gbps connections at all three primary hubs, will add internet prioritization functionality, and will add redundancy to the WAN fiber infrastructure, impacting 4,063 students and increasing from 2.1 Mbps per student to 5 Mbps per student.
Girls Athletic Leadership School (GALS) was awarded the 2020-2021 NV Education Broadband Grant (NVEBG) totaling $20,533, establishing scalable fiber internet and access in each classroom through a WLAN at their new school location. The equipment bought with the grant funds will align with an infrastructure project already started to bring network infrastructure to the site with scalable internet service up to 10 Gbps and providing internet access to each classroom, serving 400 students and 25 staff. This project supports a 100% digital learning platform, allowing students the necessary connectivity for all cloud-based instruction and assignments.